7 Things You Didn’t Know About Handmade Jewelry

November 13, 2014

Handmade jewelry has been all the rage lately. The personal attention and love that makers and artisans infuse into their work is evident in the masterpieces that they create. What most people don’t understand is why handmade jewelry is more of an investment than its mass produced counterparts. There are many reasons why handmade jewelry is more of an investment than pieces that are mass produced, so I thought I would break it down for you! Below are 7 Things You Didn’t Know About Handmade Jewelry.

1. No Mass Production Machinery Involved: By definition, handmade jewelry is literally just that, made by the “hands” of the artisan or maker. The pieces are soldered, sawed, carved and shaped without the use of mass produced manufacturing machinery. A machine can crank out hundreds of units per hour while an individual can only make a finite quantity or fraction of the number of pieces in the same amount of time.

2. The Value of Time: As previously mentioned, since there are no machines involved, handmade jewelry takes an incredible amount of time to produce just a single piece. As a designer myself, I know I often spend hours designing a single piece of jewelry for a client. The time to make the piece often can take weeks.

3. The Maker’s Process: The maker has a very intimate relationship with each piece or design they create. The design process is key to the value that is inherent in each piece. Emilie Shapiro talks about her process and says, “While creating jewelry, there is a very intimate relationship with my work. I know every curve and line (is) put there with intention. As a maker your energy goes into the piece.”

4. Materials: In almost every case, the value of the materials involved in a handmade piece are of stellar quality. It’s difficult to regulate or even know exactly what alloys are used in mass produced factories where dirty metals are blended together to create costume pieces. Handmade materials are generally sourced from highly reputable suppliers.

5. Sustainability: Jewelry Makers are often dedicated to sustainability and ethically sourced materials. By nature, being ethical can be much more costly than taking the easy route and purchasing from the refiner or dealer with low prices and shady sourcing. Once again, Emilie Shapiro always uses the highest quality materials sourced from suppliers who share her ethos about sustainability whenever possible. Smaller scale production is almost always higher quality.

6. Quality: Smaller scale production is almost always higher quality because the ability to track and control the process from start to finish is inherent in the making process. Makers and artisans are extremely proud of the work they produce. They aren’t going to let something of inferior quality leave their studio with their name on it.

7. Locally Made with Love: There is a lot of buzz with “buying local” these days. Reducing your carbon footprint and supporting local artisans is good for the environment and good for everyone. Artisans and makers infuse love and energy into each piece of work. There is HUGE value in supporting local from a sustainability and energetic standpoint. Along with the extra value inherent in handmade jewelry you are also buying a truly one-of-a-kind product. Even if the handmade piece is part of an edition – no maker creates two pieces that are exactly identical. You are the only person with that specific piece of jewelry which says a lot.

The next time you consider purchasing a handmade piece of jewelry, remember that even though the piece may be an investment, you are supporting something even bigger. You should feel really good about your purchase knowing that you have a special piece of the artist in your jewelry collection.

Keep an eye out for this blue hand icon while shopping at UncommonGoods for handmade products!

Tracy Matthews is an eco-luxury jewelry designer specializing in bespoke engagement rings, wedding bands and heirloom redesign. She loves to connect on a personal level with her clients, making the process of design intuitive and fun! Her passion for making the business of jewelry fun, led her to found
Flourish & Thrive Academy, an online community of jewelry designers who are changing the face of the jewelry industry. Along with her partner, Robin Kramer, she is dedicated to helping jewelry designers get their work on more of their DREAM clients and raving fans.

I disagree slightly with number 4 – there is still a large and I do mean HUGE amount of jewelry that is handmade where the materials are ordered in bulk from online stores that deal in materials and that stuff isn’t regulated – it comes from China and is full of lead. I love the idea of handmade jewelry too but I wouldn’t buy anything for a kid or teen that I couldn’t be sure came from lead free materials. Findings, clasps, jump rings – things of that nature are often purchased in bulk from overseas.

I’m not saying don’t love and buy handmade – just be a smart consumer and know where the materials come from.

Since being family involved with jewelry since the age of three, I’ve watch in our own stores that time it takes to make the hand made piece or an original wax model. I am so proud that my wife’s store Seldin’s Trinkets & Jewelry in Red Bank, NJ can handle all of these special requests and in time for the holidays. Some of the authentic one of a kind American Indian jewelry is also awesome. The Seldin family has been serving the jewelry world since 1947! This was a very well done article also.

An excellent article from the lovely Tracey Matthews! There cannot be enough education in this area.

Even with explaining how each of my hand beadwoven pieces takes me several hours to create, I still get meet with the occasional offhand remark of my jewelry designs being too expensive from those who are unaware of all the time and skill that goes into the creation process.

Could not agree more. Most people are looking for a bargain and don’t realize that with hand made they get quality. This is a very good article. Check out my shop at Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/sonobella

Well explained!
@NLS,I disagree with you. People who make a real handmade works will not include any Chinese products in their work. I avoid them and always wonder if customers care about what containing these metal components.

I do have to agree that number 4 isn’t always the case, unfortunately. Handmade jewellery isn’t always handmade. Sometimes it is just hand-assembled with pre-made bits and pieces. And many of the jewellery ‘makers’ I’ve seen use stones that are not genuine, although they have been told they are. It is a veritable minefield. I would suggest that people be very sure that the price is an adequate reflection of the piece you wish to purchase. If it seems too inexpensive, it is not of high quality.

I love this post, there is a lot of confusion around #4 and it is further muddied by sites that change the very definition of handmade to include items made in factories in other countries.
There is a terrible disconnect between actual handmade and what is being sold en mass as handmade. Sadly, when the websites that claim to support handmade items do not do a good job of choosing sellers wisely, or clearly defining Handmade in the first place, it doesn’t help the issue.
Buyers are confused because too many sellers will claim a 19.99 ‘gold’ ring is handmade, when in fact it was purchased wholesale from a factory overseas. Often times the same item can be found on Ebay for 4.99 from a factory in China.

As real designers, selling TRUE handmade, our best option is to educate, inform and refuse to support sites that “hand wash” factory made goods.

Thank you for highlighting the love, attention and time that is involved in creating handmade jewelry. As an artist, I am often challenged with competing on price, although my work is so time consuming. There is value in obtaining a piece directly from the artist, rather than a mass produced item from a store shelf.

This is a nice list, but I take issue with your use of the term ‘investment’. An investment is something you buy because you expect it to provide you with income in the future.

I have friends that are jewellers and I buy pieces from them because they make beautiful, quality work using fine materials. I believe that this makes their pieces a better purchase for me than some of the mass-produced alternatives.

I don’t buy their jewellery because I expect to rent, use or sell it for profit. If I did, then it would probably end up being a bad investment anyway.

@NLS What you are referring to is not really handmade. Many people make jewelry by assembling pieces together. In silversmithing we make all the pieces including jump rings (which are soldered closed) and make all the clasps etc out of sterling silver.

Thank you for pointing out many of the reasons why handmade jewelry is often more expensive. It is also important to keep in mind that these points hold true for many handmade items. As a jewelry artist I try to support other artists by buying handmade.

Thank you Tracy, for putting into words what jewelry artist have always known very well, but don’t always know how to express to potential customers without sounding defensive, or “SALESey”. Well written Tracy!

A lots of words about classic jewelery approach and comparing with mas produced galvanized dirt metal jewelery , and that’s it, like there is no other way to make it ?
What about stainless steel or titanium materials, combined with ebony or precious metals as details … some designers even inlay concrete in stainless steel …
Funny how classic jewelers know only about their own work approach , not much about modern design way, tools like metal lathe or water jet.

Thank you for writing this article. It’s very important for people to realize that “handmade” means you MAKE the pieces by hand, not buy some pre-made pieces, glue them together and call it “your” work. When you make the items you’re gluing together, that will be “your” work.

I believe some people commenting in this blog are interpreting handmade too narrowly. If you are a designer creating a necklace or bracelet using gemstones, up-cycled materials, chain, leather, etc., all made by someone else, is that not a handmade piece? It’s not factory made. I believe it is too limiting to say you need to make every element in the piece. To me, a handmade piece is unique and was created from the heart.

Upcycling is a whole other ballgame, Rebecca. I don’t see where she said that you have to make every single piece of it. To give you a really easy example:
You buy a chain. You buy a pendant. You put the pendant on the chain. Is that YOUR work? No. Right? Right.

Have to admit being a little confused. I am a custom jeweler working in a high end jewelry store. I work only in gold silver or platinum. Fabrication in metal or wax carving with lost wax casting is determined on a time basis, as in which is going to take the least amount of time. Nobody in their right mind would ever think of using lead as part of the alloy, it makes gold brittle! As a lot of stones are bought in select sizes, using a manufactured head cuts down on time. Yes I could make one, but for the time taken, no profit hurts the store.
Hand fabrication takes time. As to this being an investment for the customer, yes as in their money! not something they could turn around and make a profit on. Handing something down to their kids fine.

I love that this conversation has taken on the ‘handmade’ discussion. It’s kind of a slippery slope.

If you buy all your components pre-made (for example chains, findings, beads, charms) and create a necklace from them, is that handmade?

What if you buy pre-made jump rings and clasps, but create a complicated chainmaille collar? Sure, you can spend time making your own jump rings, but it’s production work and results in exactly the same jump rings you can buy on the market – no difference. So even though all the components you are using are mass-produced, your final product is certainly not. And let’s not forget, the jump rings themselves are made from wire, and it is highly unlikely you will have fabricated your wire from a raw metal ingot (although you certainly could, and some metalsmiths do).

On the other hand, you would hardly place a silversmith who fabricates a beautifully formed pendant and hangs it from a handmade chain with a hand-fabricated clasp in the same category as someone who purchases pre-made chain, clasp, and pendant and creates a necklace by combining them. But both create a piece of jewelry. And there are plenty of ‘one-of-a-kind’ high-end pieces of the second variety in stores and available at art fairs.

‘Handmade’ is a nebulous term. Buyer be aware. As a ‘maker,’ part of your job is to educate your client base. Make sure they understand the craftsmanship involved in the creation of your work. Make sure they understand the intrinsic value of the materials you work with. Show them as much of your process as you can. There is no substitute for identifying the maker’s hand in the final product.

The Goods is more than a place to see our products. We’re here to tell the stories behind and beyond what we sell. When you visit our blog, you’ll meet artists, discover uncommon knowledge, immerse yourself in creative design, and get to know the people who keep UncommonGoods going strong.